Asian is the New Black

When we analyze our country’s history, we reflect back on its prior state and compare it to its stance in today’s society. Take for instance, America’s racial system. Centuries ago, the Caucasian race was superior and every other color was considered subservient and barbaric. In today’s society, we are starting to see a vague glimpse of racial equality, but this improvement is being undercut by discrimination in government, education, the media, and even sports.

In the case of Jeremy Lin, he is discriminated against because he does not look he is a great athlete. Therefore, he was held back. The typical professional basketball players are either African American or Caucasian; rarely do you ever see someone who is Asian or of another race playing on the basketball court, let alone playing Division One basketball. That is the highest level of athletics that anyone can play. So when it came to Jeremy Lin becoming a professional basketball player, he had to fight a lengthy and strenuous battle to end out on the top, because people did not believe in him and were ready to put him down.

Jeremy Shu-How Lin is an Asian American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). To be precise, he is the only Asian American player to play in the NBA in the modern day era. Titled an All-State player, the Northern California Division II Player of the Year, and winning a state championship all in his high school career, Jeremy Lin did not receive any athletic scholarship offers. Mitch Stephens, a national columnist who writes about high school sports for Maxpreps said,“When I really looked at everything, everything a basketball player could do for himself individually, for a team- Jeremy Lin was the best player here. But yet, colleges weren’t clamoring for him. He just didn’t fit the mold.” Despite quite the reputation, Jeremy did not fit the mold. He did not fit into the role of the average basketball player because he was Asian.

Jeremy Lin’s dream school was Stanford University. He wanted to go there because he lived relatively close to it and most of all, it was a NCAA Division One school. He would go there and play with their team all the time, and he would always ask their coach, “What can I do to play for you?” But when he found out that Stanford wouldn’t let him play for their school, he went through a very frustrating process of trying to find a school that would let him play for their team. “I couldn’t even get some division three schools to look at me,” Jeremy said. His only chance to play on the college level would be at Harvard University, a school that isn’t really known for its athleticism, but rather for academics. “If I was black, I would’ve gotten a D-1 scholarship, but that’s my personal opinion,” Jeremy Lin told an interviewer for the making of his documentary, Linsanity.

Every year, tons of African Americans receive scholarships to play basketball. That is mainly because basketball is predominantly an African American and Caucasian sport. “People look at basketball players in terms of race a lot of times. Basketball is not considered an asian sport here in America,” said Kenny Blakeney, Jeremy’s assistant coach at Harvard . Because there were very few Asian basketball players in the NBA, his statement is true. Society does not view basketball as an asian sport because they don’t see it very often. And when they do see it, they don’t always respond in a positive manner.

While playing in Ameatur Athletic Union (AAU) tournaments as a young boy, people on the sidelines, and even players, would tell Jeremy Lin to take his self back to China, call him a “Chinese import,” or yell other racial slurs. When he went to college, things got worse. Spectators and teammates would call him a “Chink,” would ask, “Can you even open your eyes? Can you see the scoreboard?” When his team played on the road, in specific gyms in the Ivy League, people would yell racial slurs to him. Jeremy had a hard time when people would make racist remarks against him. “It was shocking to me to see racial talks in the Ivy League because you think that at that level, certainly in this supposed very academically, progressively, oriented group of schools full of asian students on their campuses, that would be something that was unthinkable, but it wasn’t,” Pablo Torre, a writer and reporter for ESPN reacted. Even when you least expect a group of people to be racist, there is a possibility that they can be.

When one of Jeremy’s coaches said he could play for the NBA, he was astounded. He thought of himself as a good player, but he did not think of himself to be NBA material. So when it was time for the NBA to draft new players, Jeremy would be present at the ceremony. As the speaker would announce the names of the lucky young men who were chosen to be on a team, Jeremy thought that the team that would he be drafted by was the Knicks. He knew that the Knicks were going to pick him because he performed extraordinarily on their work out. Once they called his name, he was ready to hug his family, run up to the stage to receive his hat, and catch the next flight to New York the following morning. But they called another name, not his. Phil Yu, a blogger for Angry Asian Man.com said, “I was hopeful, but to be completely honest, I was like, ‘Let’s just wait and see what happens.’ The things that I’m always interested in is race and the way discrimination always rears it’s ugly head. I was really just waiting to see which team would take the plunge and take this Asian American player.” No team dared to take Jeremy because they were afraid that it would mess up their image.

Later, Jeremy did get signed with his home team, the Golden State Warriors, but he hard a hard time because they sent him to the D-League several times. The D-League is one of the lowest spots in the NBA; it’s basically a showcase for teams to recruit players. Jeremy said that it was the hardest time of his career because he really had to fight to prove that he was a great player. Then he was waived, or cut, after three seasons with the Warriors, so that the team would fill a salary cap for a supposedly better player. Two days later, he was picked up by the Houston Rockets. They cut him after only twelve days; on Christmas day. Then the New York Knicks signed him. But they did not let him play in the games, or even the practices.

When his contract was about to expire, the Knicks finally let him him play. That was when “Linsanity” took New York by storm. Jeremy was breaking records. He scored 89 points in three games, which was the most by any player in their first three professional starts since ABA-NBA merger in 1976-77. In five games, he scored 136 points, breaking Shaquille O’Neal’s 20-year-old record of 129 points. He also went to a “no name” to a “national phenomenon” in only two weeks. That is something that just isn’t common in the matter of that time period.

Despite his success, the racism surfaced again. The Asian jokes and stereotypes were surfacing all over the media. News reporters called him a “Chink,” they made fun of his eyes, and even David Letterman, the famous late night talk show host, got in a few jokes about his race. Jeremy’s Agent, Roger Montgomery said, “This whole thing shows how unprepared we were to deal with this culture in this context.” They were not prepared to address the racism in the country. “For many years, we had many stereotypes about Asian Americans, and now they’re all coming out like they’re no big deal. They are a big deal,” said one NBA spokesperson. Even though the media might have not looked at the racist remarks very seriously, it was a serious matter and it was not funny.

Today, the Linsanity has calmed down a little, as Jeremy Lin plays for the Houston Rockets once again. He is viewed as the underdog, who came out on top. Everyone was ready to bury him alive because he did not look the part; because he was asian. But Jeremy got through that difficult season in his life by looking to the sole thing that inspires him, God. Once he put his eyes on him, he had the strength to make it. So now Jeremy is finally getting his chance to shine and play his brand of basketball.

Yao Ming, a Chinese professional basketball player who formerly played for the Houston Rockets said, “In the NBA, there is already enough pressure from just playing in games, from the media, from the fans. Whether you like it or not, those pressures exist. I hope in the future, people see Chinese players as being in the NBA as a normal thing.” Hopefully, we will see an increase of Asian players in the NBA. Hopefully, we will see an increase of other races breaking records in all things. And when that time comes, we will know that we have reached racial equality. Something that can not be undercut by discrimination in the government, in education, in the media, or even in sports.